The cisgender bisexual man who attacked anti-trans comedian Dave Chappelle onstage at the Hollywood Bowl in 2022 is now suing the venue.
In his lawsuit filed Friday, Isaiah Lee claims that the venue’s security guards and Chappelle’s entourage beat him “ruthlessly” when he rushed the stage during the comedian’s May 3, 2022, performance at the Netflix is a Joke festival, Los Angeles ABC affiliate KABC reports.
Video of the attack shows the then-23-year-old Lee tackling Chappelle onstage, knocking him to the ground before security guards and members of the comedian’s entourage charged in to apprehend him. Lee was taken into custody and brought to a local hospital to be treated for injuries sustained in the encounter. Chappelle was not injured, but Lee was found to have had a fake gun that ejected a knife blade on him at the time.
#davechappelle attacked at #hollywoodbowl #netflixisajoke pic.twitter.com/oP04S0de90
— abazar
(@abazar) May 4, 2022
Lee, who has reportedly struggled with mental illness and homelessness, later claimed in an interview with the New York Post that he did not intend to harm the comedian. He said he was “triggered” by Chappelle’s jokes about the LGBTQ+ community and homelessness, as well as another comedian’s jokes about sexual abuse.
“I identify as bisexual,” Lee told the Post in 2022, “and I wanted him to know what he said was triggering. I wanted him to know that next time, he should consider first running his material by people it could affect.”
As the Post notes, Lee was charged with several misdemeanor counts, including battery and possession of a weapon with intent to assault. Lee pleaded no contest and served 270 days in jail after an LA judge granted him a mental health diversion.
Lee’s lawsuit names the Hollywood Bowl’s operators, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, and the security company it hired for the event. Lee claims the venue’s security failed to protect him from Chappelle’s entourage, who he claims spat on him and dislocated his arm.
The lawsuit reiterates Lee’s claims that he “became upset by the discriminatory nature” of Chappelle’s jokes and that he “rushed the stage in protest.”
Chappelle has become notorious in recent years for his anti-trans jokes. Immediately after Lee was apprehended at the Hollywood Bowl, Chappelle joked that “it was a trans man.”
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